Brockton man sentenced for spending defrauded money on Mercedes, Boston Seaport condo

BOSTON, Mass. (WLNE) — A Brockton man was sentenced for defrauding a pharmaceutical company out of $2.3 million and spending the proceeds on a Mercedes-Benz, a $1.9 million Boston Seaport District condo and other high-priced items and services.

Samuel N. Montronde, 39, will serve 30 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $2.3 in restitution to Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited.

The sentencing comes after his December 2024 conviction of three counts of wire fraud by a federal jury, according to the United States Attorney’s Office.

Starting in 2022, Montronde and his girlfriend Priya Bhambi, a former senior employee at Takeda, began a scheme to defraud the company for “consulting services.”

The couple used fabricated invoices on behalf of a fake consulting company, Evoluzione Consulting LLC.

A website and blog posts were created for the fake company by Bhambi, along with a fictional employee the couple named “Jasmine.”

The total amount of consulting services purchased by Takeda was in the amount of $3.542 million, which led to the couple fabricating five separate invoices to Takeda for $460,000 each.

Takeda discovered the scam and fired Bhambi before paying all five of the six-figure invoices.

In addition to the Mercedes and condo, the couple also purchased a diamond engagement ring, freightliner trucks and a $50,000 wedding deposit with the defrauded funds.

Bhambi pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in June of 2024 and was sentenced to 46 months in prison.

She was also ordered to pay $2,585, 480 in restitution.